T-64A
}} The T-64 is a Soviet main battle tank, it was highly advanced when first introduced. With electronics and weapon systems that provided the USSR and its supporters in the Warsaw Pact a invaluable upgrade in performance compared to earlier MBT designs. Overview and tactics *The introduction of the 125mm 2A46 gun increased the hitting power of Soviet armour and also provided them with a delivery system for tank-fired ATGMs. This allows nearly all Soviet tanks to punch well above their weight in a close range fight. It is also armed with an NSVT HMG with 300 rounds, and depending on the model, KOBRA ATGMs. *The T-64 is a little bit more expensive than the T-72, but far more capable. The T-64A has no stabilizer and is very inaccurate on the move. Every model of T-64 past the most basic (the T-64A) has a stabilizer and ATGM's, the T-64B in particular being cheaper than a T-72B with nearly equal armament, but lesser armour and operational range. *All in all, the T-64 may be one of the most balanced tanks in the Warsaw Pact arsenal. It is bearably cheap, hard hitting, and fast. However its operational range is short and resupplying it with fuel and ammunition can be a problem. *The T-64 can be the workhorse of any PACT task force, bringing a much needed bonus firepower to T-55 formations or supporting and screening higher tier tanks such as the T-80, it's heavy armour allowing them to survive decent incoming fire. *Having a machine gun allows the T-64 to have some AA and improved anti-light capability, while the range is still shorter than an autocannon and can't deal the damage of this it's better than nothing, effectively allowing itself to defend from enemy copters. *While having a short operational range the T-64 is still capable to move to a decent speed, which allows it to reinforce battlezones in relative short time, this also helps on defensive manouvers, where they can move at a faster rate in a controlled sector than the T-62. *The T-64 has more HE power, 1 point, than lower tier tanks, this can be of great utility for taking down enemy light units, and when combined with its speed it may allow them to chase some routed enemies. History The T-64 was conceived in Kharkov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) as the next-generation main battle tank by Alexander A. Morozov, the designer of the T-54 (which in the meantime would be incrementally improved by Leonid N. Kartsev's Nizhny Tagil bureau, in models T-54A, T-54B, T-55, and T-55A). A revolutionary feature of the T-64 is the incorporation of an automatic loader for its 125-mm gun, allowing a crewmember's position to be omitted, and helping to keep the size and weight of the tank down. Tank troopers would joke that the designers had finally caught up with their unofficial hymn, "Three Tankers"—the song had been written to commemorate the crewmen fighting in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, in 3-man BT-5 tanks in 1939. The T-64 also pioneered other Soviet tank technology: the T-64A model of 1967 introduced the 125-mm smoothbore gun, and the T-64B of 1976 would be able to fire a guided antitank missile through its gun barrel. The T-64 design was further developed as the gas turbine-powered T-80 main battle tank. The turret of the T-64B would be used in the improved T-80U and T-80UD, and an advanced version of its diesel engine would power T-80UD and T-84 tanks built in Ukraine. The T-64 would be used only by the Soviet Army and never exported, unlike the T-54/55. It was superior to these tanks in most qualitative terms, until the introduction of the T-72B model in 1985. The tank equipped elite and regular formations in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, the T-64A model being first deployed with East Germany's Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG) in 1976, and some time later in Hungary's Southern Group of Forces (SFG). By 1981 the improved T-64B began to be deployed in East Germany and later in Hungary. While it was believed that the T-64 was "only" reserved for elite units, it was also used by much lower "non-ready formations", for example, the Odessa Military District's 14th Army. Since the T-64 was not exported, it never saw combat during the Cold War, although it is possible that a few may have been deployed in Afghanistan. However, the Far East Soviet Forces tended to operate older equipment, as the best equipment was usually deployed to Europe to oppose NATO. In Afghanistan, the Soviet Army relied heavily on older T-62 tanks instead. Weapons ''European Escalation AirLand Battle Red Dragon'' Gallery WAB Armory T-64A.png|T-64A in the WAB armory WRD Armory T-64A.png|T-64A in the WRD armory See Also *Wikipedia: T-64 *T-62 - Predecessor Category:Soviet Union units Category:Main Battle Tanks Category:European Escalation vehicles Category:AirLand Battle Soviet Union arsenal